WHO WE ARE
Angel's Rocks and Fossils is a Christian business that offers our customers a variety of quality rocks, fossils, and mineral specimens for collectors, educators, young rockhounds, and families. The majority of our products are purchased in bulk, and so are available at rock-bottom pricing; both retail and wholesale.
Traditionally, the world has associated the fossil record and the creation of various rocks from basic minerals with huge time periods involving hundreds of millions of years. As we study and handle and trade these wonderful examples of God's creation, we've elected instead to believe in the truth of God's holy scriptures. So, while you might hear us talk about a "Devonian Orthoceras", you won't see or hear the words "475 million years ago". Are we out of step with reality? Maybe, but we've chosen Jesus over conventional thinking!
FROM THE EARTH
If you have browsed through our Facebook or Instagram pages, you've seen an incredible variety of God's handiwork. We purchase our rocks, minerals, and fossils from several different sources. The nicest amethyst specimens come directly from the mines of southern Brazil ---- we fight all the shipping and customs battles so that you can enjoy a little tiny slice of His handiwork that is truly exquisite. Sometimes we will order from wholesalers here in the US, so that we can carefully monitor quality. This really becomes an issue when working with fossils, as there is a proliferation of fakes out there (not limited to any one country) that are being produced by artisans all over the world. Trilobites, the oldest known fossils, are especially prone to faking, and we've found that due diligence is absolutely required to keep from incidentally acquiring them in and amongst genuine specimens.
Many (could be most) fossils and rock and mineral specimens have been repaired or worked on to enhance their beauty. For example, a Devonian ammonite might be sliced down the middle, then polished to a high gloss to bring out the exquisite detail of the original animal. If a small piece breaks off in the process, it will likely be repaired in as unobtrusive manner as possible. Does that detract from it's value? Usually not. Recognize that the vast majority of rocks fossils are extracted with either a D6 Cat or a stick of dynamite ---- both involving quite violent processes.
Photography ----- we are not professional photographers --- just a bunch o' folks that love the Lord handling a bunch o' rocks and minerals and fossils. Most of our photos are taken with indirect sunlight, some are indoors with narrow-spectrum blue LED lighting, and a few are in bright sunlight. The point here is that we never doctor photos or attempt to make an object look better than it actually is. Once in a while, we might photograph a wet specimen. If this is ever the case, we will clearly indicate as such.
A quick note about our "pitch": Some folks are uncomfortable walking the delicate tightrope between conducting business and sharing their faith. We look at it a different way. We are really here to share our faith. Certainly we are not using Christianity to sell rocks, but we humbly admit that we are using the beautiful rocks and minerals and fossils to bring attention to a wonderful God who is alive and well and active and very, very real!
BUT OF THE LORD
So, why is Angel's Rocks and Fossils in business? Well, a couple of Christian families in the oilfield got together (consisting of a kinesiologist [the boss], a petroleum engineer, a mechanical engineer, an elementary teacher, a sobrino, and a passel of rugrats) and put together a business framework that was fun, educational, kept us from starving, and honored the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of us were brought up and taught a worldview that evolution is fact, the earth is billions of years old, and that it was created as part of the Big Bang (the 2 words were always capitalized). Often, our teachers would say that that evolution was one of several "theories", but they would put it in quotes, roll their eyes, and make sure we knew that they were required to call it a theory. As evangelical Christians that believe the Word of God (the Bible) is true and correct, we saw a direct conflict between the world's view and the biblical account of creation.
And so, we weighed our options.
We chose God.
We chose the wonderful story of how he created the earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh. Can we prove that the account in Genesis Chapter 1 is true? No, but we believe it is. Can a 36-year-old geologist prove that the earth is billions of years old? No, but he can believe it if he wants to. Heh heh heh --- look up "age of the earth" in Wikipedia (it must be right, it's on the internet!) ---- you will get "The age of the Earth is 4.54 billion years, ± 0.05 billion years. This age is based on evidence from radiometric age dating of meteorite material, and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples". Sounds interesting --- but we're not so sure that it really is all that verifiable. If you are interested in a different view, we'd suggest looking first at Genesis 1:1, then go to http://creation.com/the-way-it-really-is-little-known-facts-about-radiometric-dating and check out a different interpretation.
In any case, we are in business to share little chunks of God's rocks and big chunks of the love of Jesus Christ. Many of our specimens are above-average in quality, but substantially below average in cost, because we purchase in bulk.